DSA 2017
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newcomer77:
Please don't be disheartened. Do give your DS the confidence that he was given the DSA offers based on his achievements and the potential the schools obviously see in him. PSLE is unfortunately the 1 exam per subject that everyone seems to focus solely on. There are many factors that can affect the child during the PSLE exam so please disregard that sole performance and instead celebrate his achievements throughout his 6 years. He deserves to take any of the DSA offers and he will regain the confidence once he's moved on to Secondary school.Just wonder any parents are starting to have any thoughts about post PSLE vs DSA school choice....
The general feeling of this year PSLE seems harder. On top of this, my DS fell sick the night before Science paper and did not complete the paper :faint:
My DS got offered 1 WL and 1CO. But now after the PSLE, felt he didn't have the confidence he will meet the COP (his goal) of any of these schools. In fact he gauge it may be 20-30 points below the COP :lightrod: He is beginning to feel bad about going to these schools with a lower than norm COP. And contemplating to drop DSA or opt for one that is not too far from the COP even though it's not his preferred choice. :siam:
Even though the option for DSA is already there and so he need not depend on just 1 PSLE exam.
He did well Ok for prelim (2A* 1A 1B) but have no confidence to do as well in PSLE now after all's over. He thinks he will get worse than prelims.
Since this is a DSA forum, I am wondering what are most parents thoughts after psle vs DSA and what will you do if you are in my shoes. :imdrowning:
All the best! Stay positive and it'll all fall into place for your DS. -
WonderWoman:
:goodpost: Totally agree. PSLE is just a snapshot of the child's performance at a moment in time. It is really not a good gauge of the child's ability. If your child has been performing consistently throughout P5,P6 which he must have to obtain DSA offers, he is more than capable of handling the academic rigour of the school. There are just too many variables that can affect PSLE performance, whether it is sickness, or compo write out of point, or even shading the OAS wrongly due to anxiety (all these had happened to my DS before).
Please don't be disheartened. Do give your DS the confidence that he was given the DSA offers based on his achievements and the potential the schools obviously see in him. PSLE is unfortunately the 1 exam per subject that everyone seems to focus solely on. There are many factors that can affect the child during the PSLE exam so please disregard that sole performance and instead celebrate his achievements throughout his 6 years. He deserves to take any of the DSA offers and he will regain the confidence once he's moved on to Secondary school.newcomer77:
Just wonder any parents are starting to have any thoughts about post PSLE vs DSA school choice....
The general feeling of this year PSLE seems harder. On top of this, my DS fell sick the night before Science paper and did not complete the paper :faint:
My DS got offered 1 WL and 1CO. But now after the PSLE, felt he didn't have the confidence he will meet the COP (his goal) of any of these schools. In fact he gauge it may be 20-30 points below the COP :lightrod: He is beginning to feel bad about going to these schools with a lower than norm COP. And contemplating to drop DSA or opt for one that is not too far from the COP even though it's not his preferred choice. :siam:
Even though the option for DSA is already there and so he need not depend on just 1 PSLE exam.
He did well Ok for prelim (2A* 1A 1B) but have no confidence to do as well in PSLE now after all's over. He thinks he will get worse than prelims.
Since this is a DSA forum, I am wondering what are most parents thoughts after psle vs DSA and what will you do if you are in my shoes. :imdrowning:
All the best! Stay positive and it'll all fall into place for your DS.
I feel PSLE is as much a test of exam technique as it is about competency in the subject. I know my DS has always been a little short on exam technique. On hindsight, I now appreciate the benefits of DSA as the assessment is a lot more holistic. The one or two school exams where he did badly did not affect his DSA chances because taken in the overall context of P4 - P6 grades and his academic achievements outside school, his academic ability is quite clearly shown.
Encourage your DS, he should not feel any less worthy of accepting the DSA offer and entering the school regardless of the PSLE outcome. -
The basic question you should ask is whether your assessment of your son, and his own of himself, is still valid, quite apart from PSLE scores. Presumably you chose the schools he applied to through DSA having assessed that he is able to thrive in that environment and keep up with the standards. Whatever his PSLE score, that will not have changed. As others have pointed out, PSLE scores are not the best or only measure of ability. There are students with lower PSLE scores who do well in sec school while others with higher PSLE scores do worse, so you should not base your decision solely on PSLE performance.
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For the ‘top’ schools assessing candidates for non-academic DSA domains, do they assess candidates on their ability to thrive academically in the school? (My child received a CO, but it was not via any academic domain.)
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doodbug:
For the 'top' schools assessing candidates for non-academic DSA domains, do they assess candidates on their ability to thrive academically in the school? (My child received a CO, but it was not via any academic domain.)
They should. If they don't, it's very irresponsible of them. No school would want to have it known that their students who entered via sports/CCA generally do poorly. At least, I hope so! But it is still the student and parent who need to make the final judgement call. However, \"thrive\" may mean different things to different people. Not all students (DSA or otherwise) have the capacity to devote a lot of time and energy to CCA and still do very well academically. The school may consider it OK as long as they do well enough to be promoted, and unfortunately, DSA students may not have the liberty to cut back on CCA. -
Glad to hear that. Because frankly as parents, we do not have that many data points to make a good decision either. How do I put it, my son is in the 80s range, but he’s not scoring A*s. He is pulled down by Chinese, which I understand, is one out of 8/9 subjects in Sec School, and no longer 1/4. Will he thrive academically in a top school? I’m not sure. Will he meet the PSLE COP of the school? Probably not. Hmm. But, we are prepared for alternative arrangements in Year 5 if he really isn’t able to thrive academically.
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doodbug:
Glad to hear that. Because frankly as parents, we do not have that many data points to make a good decision either. How do I put it, my son is in the 80s range, but he's not scoring A*s. He is pulled down by Chinese, which I understand, is one out of 8/9 subjects in Sec School, and no longer 1/4. Will he thrive academically in a top school? I'm not sure. Will he meet the PSLE COP of the school? Probably not. Hmm. But, we are prepared for alternative arrangements in Year 5 if he really isn't able to thrive academically.
personally, Y5 will be a bit too late. Planning for an escape route (usually Poly) should be done around Y3/4. -
newcomer77:
PSLE is just a snapshot of your DS' learning journey. It should not be a gauge of his overall ability. Since 2 schools are willing to offer him a CO and WL, this means he is good enough to join the school.Just wonder any parents are starting to have any thoughts about post PSLE vs DSA school choice....
The general feeling of this year PSLE seems harder. On top of this, my DS fell sick the night before Science paper and did not complete the paper :faint:
My DS got offered 1 WL and 1CO. But now after the PSLE, felt he didn't have the confidence he will meet the COP (his goal) of any of these schools. In fact he gauge it may be 20-30 points below the COP :lightrod: He is beginning to feel bad about going to these schools with a lower than norm COP. And contemplating to drop DSA or opt for one that is not too far from the COP even though it's not his preferred choice. :siam:
Even though the option for DSA is already there and so he need not depend on just 1 PSLE exam.
He did well Ok for prelim (2A* 1A 1B) but have no confidence to do as well in PSLE now after all's over. He thinks he will get worse than prelims.
Since this is a DSA forum, I am wondering what are most parents thoughts after psle vs DSA and what will you do if you are in my shoes. :imdrowning:
In any case, I have personally come across of kids who did very well in PSLE (t-score > 250) struggling in secondary school. It all has to do with if one is willing to continue to work hard and learn.
You may be wondering why these kids are struggling in secondary school. My guess is that they have not adapt and grow into the new learning environment in secondary school, which is very different from primary school. My DS (in secondary school now) suggested that it could be that many of them who are struggling were totally burnt-out after PSLE and slack in secondary school. Others could be not used to being independent in their learning as many had loads of tuition in primary school. Now with a much heavier curriculum in secondary school (due to longer school hours, compulsory CCA), time set aside for tuition is very limited.
One chapter of your DS' learning journey has closed. He should learn to look ahead and continue on a new journey. Do not let one exam set him back on achieving his dreams. -
Nebbermind:
Noted and thanks Nebbermind for the pointer.doodbug:
Glad to hear that. Because frankly as parents, we do not have that many data points to make a good decision either. How do I put it, my son is in the 80s range, but he's not scoring A*s. He is pulled down by Chinese, which I understand, is one out of 8/9 subjects in Sec School, and no longer 1/4. Will he thrive academically in a top school? I'm not sure. Will he meet the PSLE COP of the school? Probably not. Hmm. But, we are prepared for alternative arrangements in Year 5 if he really isn't able to thrive academically.
personally, Y5 will be a bit too late. Planning for an escape route (usually Poly) should be done around Y3/4. -
Congratulations to those successful DSAs! PSLE is really stressful, esp. for parents. many families will go overseas after PSLE. do need relax! Have a good break!
:congrats:
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